Automatic car coupler



Feb, 10. 1925.

s. P. BUSH ET AL AUTOMATIC GAR COUPLER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 2 0 a 4 u a w 2 2 Kl; .z/u V7 2 2 w 7 4 x 2 a Q 0 W 2 a 6 2 6 3 T 3 M 2 I 4/ a I Il l l l wm 5 g 7 5 ,8 6 a, 2 3 I 3 a P w .5 /flr/l/l/V 3 4 1 FebQlb. 1 925.

. S. P. BUSH ET AL AUTOMATI C CAR COUPLER Original Filed A ril 18. 1923 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 arrow 014 Quorum Patented Feb. 10, 1925.

UNITED STATES r PATENT OFFICE.

i SAMUEL PQBUsH AND GEORGE M. MURPHY, orcoLUMBUs, orrro, AssIeNons TO THE BUCKEYE STEEL GASTINGS COMPANY, or. COLUMBUS, OHIO.

AUTOMATIC cafe COUPLER.

f Application filed April 18, 1923, Serial No, 632,907, Renewed December 23, 1924.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, SAMUEL P BUsr-I and GEORGE M. MURPHY, citizens of the .United States, and residents of Columbus,

in the county of Franklin and State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in AutomaticCar Couplers;

andwe do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make.

7 and use the same.

Our present invention relates to 1 auto- Inatic car couplers and has for its object to provide a novel construction whereby the throw of the knuckle is accelerated, the knuckle may be fully opened with a decreased travel of the locking block, and a maximum bearing and support for the locking block is furnished. These stated objects and other incidental objects which will appear in the course of thefollowingdescrip' tion are attained in such a device as is 11- lustrated in the accompanying drawings, and the invention resides in certain features defined in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a-viewfin section through a draw head and knuckle, the locking block and lifting lever for the latter being in elevation Figures 2, 3 and 4 are similar views showing the successive positions of the locking block and knuckle during the upward movement 1 i of the lockingblock; Figure 5 is a similar view showing the knuckle in a partly open position and the locking block resting on the tail of the knuckle; Figures 6 and 7 are viewsof the knuckle; Figures 8, 9 and 10 1 are views of thelocking block; Figure 11 is a view in perspective of the coupling, the guard arm side of the head being broken away, and Figure 12 18 a view 1n section through the guard arm.

@1 1 represents the draw head of the coupling provided with ears 15 having oppo sitely disposed lugs 16 which are integral with the ears15 and head 14, the outer margin of the lugslbeing circular as shown in Figure 11.

The draw-head is provided intermediate the ears with the stops 17 against which the shoulders 18 on theknuckle abut when the latter isin closed position, thus assisting the other parts, he hereinafter referred to in a position to take part of the pulling T stresses, thus relieving the pivot pin of much stress in pulling.

The ears 15 and lugs 16 are provided with a pin-hole, and the knuckle 19 is provided with a corresponding hole for the passage of the pin which looks the knuckle to the draw-head.

The knuckle 19 is provided with a tail 22, the upper and lower faces of which are inclined upwardly and rearwardly as shown in Fig. 7. The upper face is provided at its outer edge with a rib 23 adapted to engage a shoulder or surface on the locking block for lifting and supporting the latter, while a similar rib 123 is provided on the lower face for a purpose which will presently ap pear. a i

The locking block 24 which is shown detached in Figs. 8, 9 and 10, is provided with a depending leg 25, terminating in a toe 26, which projects horizontally, or at a slight inclination from the lower end of the leg. The underside of this leg, or the toe at the endof the leg, has an inclined surface as at 27, extending about half the len th of the toe, and beyond this, the lower ace of the toe is approximately horizontal. The look ing block 24 is provided with a lateral shoulder or surface 28 adapted to be on gaged bythe rib 23011 the knuckle tail, and it is also provided at itsupper end with a horizontally projecting lip 29 adapted to bear against the ribs 30 formed on the inner face of the side wall of the draw-head. The draw-head is provided in its throat. at one side with an inclined seat or shelf 31 extendinginthe direction of the length of the coupling and adapted to support the locking block in its lock set position. The ribs 30, it will be noted, have their upper portions 301 disposed parallel or approximately parallel with the top side wall of the drawhead while their lower portions 302 are sharply beveled. l Vhen the locking block moves upwardly, the lip 29 rides upon the beveled portions of the ribs and a positive tilting action of the lock results.

Pivoted to a bracket 32 depending from the guard arm of the draw-head, is thelever 33, the rounded free end of which is adapt ed to engage the lower face of the toe 27 of the locking block 24, for lifting the same, the lower end of the coupling head having an opening therein for the passage of the lever-33. This lever is connected with a pull-rod 34 which in turn will be connected with an actuating lever not shown.

Fig. 1 shows the locking block in its normal locking position; Figure 2 shows it slightly raised prior to going on lock set; Figure 3 shows it resting on the shoulder 31 or in set posit-ion; Figure a shows it in its highest position with the knuckle thrown to open position and Figure 5 shows the knuckle partly closed with the locking block resting thereon.

In describing the action of the lock in going-onto its'seat, we will first describe the slidinga'ction due to the inclination of the surface 27, as itcan go onto its set in this way, 'and then refer to the action of the toe 26 in tilting the lock, the latter adding to .the positiveness of ithe operation.

\Vhen the knuckle is closed and locked, the locking block rests wvell down in the head, so thatthe portion of thefiblock above shoulder 28 is in the plane of the tail of the knuckle, while the shoulder 28 rests on the upper end of'a'bearing surface 310 formed on the inner side of the front wall of the draw-head in the corner formed by the same and the side wall. The locking block is thus given the maximum support in its lowest position so that it will remain in operative relation to the knuckle and cannot become jammed or tilt into such a position that it must be laboriously dis lodged before the knuckle may be operated. To release the knuckle, a pull is-exerted on red 34 which actuates lever in a direction to carry the free end of the latter into contact with the lower face of the extension 25 of the locking block. As the lever is moved, its free end engages and slides on the inclined surface 27 of-thelocking block thus tilting theilocking block from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that showni'n Fig. 3, and in so doing the lower inc-lined surface 27 of the locking block slides on the end of the lever 33, thus bringing the lower edge of the extension '25 of the block in the plane of and over the-lock seat 31. If for any reason .the block fails to slide into position over its lock seat '31, a continued upward movement of the lever 33 will carry the toe 26-of the extension 25 of the lock into engagement withthe tail of the knuckle and thus positively tilt the "lock until the lower edge of the extension is over the seat 31. By now releasing the lever 33,the looking block will settle down and rest on its seat 31. If the knuckle be now thrown to open position byany means other than the lever 33, the rib 23 on thetop of the knuckle tail will during said opening movement. come in contact with the shoulder 28 on the locking block, at one side of the center of gravity of-the latter, thus elevating the block and causing it to tilt or swing away from the seat 31. This swinging or tilting movement is limited by the end of the toe 26 contacting with the surface 35 of. the locking block housing. This surface 35 is continued up at the rear in the form of a beveled or inclined extension 35, and at the extreme rear by the narrow strip or surface 35 against which the toe bears and prevents any partor edge of the locking block from moving over into the plane of the top edge of the surface 35. By now closing the knuckle, after the same has been wholly-or partly opened, the lock continues to ride on the rib 23 and is'gradually lowered until the knuckle swings clear of the locking block thus permitting the latter to drop into position. shownin Fig. l and lock the knuckle'in its closed position.

If it be desired to throw the knuckle to open position by means of "the lever 33, a continued pull on rod '34 will elevate the locking block until the top surface of the toe 26 of the extension. 25 of the locking block engages the inclined or cam face of the knuckle tail formed by the rib 123 and a continued movementwill then forcibly move the locking block to its highest position andthrow the knuckle to 'its'open position. The continued upward movement. of the locking block brings together the in clined faces of the rib 123 and the too 26 so that the throw of the knuckle is very easily started and the movement of the knuckle to open position is accelerated. During this -movement the upper end of the locking block will tilt inwardly or toward the left, thus causing its lip 29 to engage and ride on the ribs 30', while the front and rear walls of the housing prevent any endwise vibratory movement of the block. hen the lip 29 impinges upon the beveled portion 302. the locking block is positively tilted to the right which action causes the lock to'throw the knuckle open to the limit with a minimum'travel of the look.

It will be observed thatt-helocking block is wholly inclosed within the housing and that provision is made for guiding both ends of the locking block in its upward and downward movementsf Again-the lock-seat being at one side of the housing and extending'in'the direction of the length of the draw bar, the locking block cannot be dislodged from its lock set position by impacts or blows incident to coupling. The means for tilting the locking block and moving it to its lock set position are simple and positive. When the knuckle is closed, the lock descends to its lowest position in looking the knuckle and is firmly supported by the walls of the housing and the bearing surface 310, and with the lock in this position, the abutments under compressive stresses on the knuckle and drawhead co-act, as do the surfaces 19 of the knuckle and the surfaces of the lug 16 under pulling stresses, thus relieving the pivot pin, to a very large degree, from stresses.

lVhile we prefer to actuate the locking block from below, as described, it may be provided, as shown in Fig. 9 with means for its attachment to a lifting chain.

It is evident that many slight changes might be resorted to in the relative arrangement of parts shown and described without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention, hence we would have it understood that we do not wish to confine ourselves to the exact construction and arrange ment of parts shown and described, but,

Having fully described our invention what we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car coupling, the combination of a draw-head having a lock set seat on an inner side wall and a bearing surface in the lower portion of the corner bounded by said side wall and the front wall, a knuckle, and a locking block having a lateral shoulder to rest upon the upper side of the bearing surface when the block is in its lowest position, the block also having a terminal toe which when the block is lifted is caused to tilt away from the knuckle and over the seat and by its continued upward movement throws the knuckle to open position.

2. In a car coupling, the combination of a draw-head having a lock set seat on an inner side wall and a bearing surface in the lower portion of the corner bounded by said side wall and the front wall, a knuckle, and a locking block having a lateral shoulder to rest upon the upper side of the bearing surface when the block is in its lowest position, the block also having a terminal toe and when lifted from above it being so balanced that when the knuckle is cleared the block tilts by gravity away from the knuckle and over the seat and by its continued upward movement the terminal toe engages the bottom of knuckle and throws the knuckle to open position.

In testimony whereof, we have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

S. P. BUSH. GEO. M. MURPHY.

WVitnesses JACOB O. LARSEN, S. J. PHENEGER. 

